Rent Is Unaffordable for Minimum-Wage Earners in Every U.S. State

A new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that a full-time worker earning the federal minimum wage cannot comfortably afford rent on a two-bedroom apartment in any U.S. state, the Huffington Post reports.

A worker earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour would need to work nearly 127 hours a week – equivalent to more than three full-time jobs – to afford a modest two-bedroom rental without spending more than 30% of their salary on housing costs. To afford a modest one-bed rental, they would need to work 103 hours a week. 

A full-time worker needs to earn $22.96 an hour, on average, for a two-bedroom rental to be affordable, according to the report. That’s $15.71 an hour more than the federal minimum wage, and $5.39 more than the national average renter’s wage of $17.57. 

Nearly 40% of all U.S. renters now pay more than 30% of their incomes on housing costs, and the number of renters paying more than half of their income toward housing costs increased by 3.6 million from 2001 to 2016. Many Americans are just one unexpected expense away from potential disaster: Around 40% said they would not be able to cover a $400 emergency.  

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